No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked.

Lying on your back in the grass with your friends and saying things like, "That cloud looks like a . . ."

Playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game.

Stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger.

When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited the student at home.

Basically we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! But we survived because their love was greater than the threat.

Summers filled with bike rides, Hula Hoops, and visits to the pool, and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar.

Howdy Doody and The Peanut Gallery, the Lone Ranger, The Shadow knows, Nellie Bell, Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk.